


Gone to Wonderland

by Just_A_Nerd



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: F/M, Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, M/M, Reddie, Stenbrough, benveryly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-25 09:40:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22493965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_A_Nerd/pseuds/Just_A_Nerd
Summary: All Eddie wanted was a normal day at the Quarry by himself. Instead, he gets transported to a magical world called Wonderland on the brink of civil war. And everyone is telling him that he will fight in the war, and return order and peace to Wonderland.
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I don't know what this is I'm just bored and had an idea lmao.

“Remember Eddie bear! Back before sunset!”Eddie turned around and waved goodbye to his mother before starting for the quarry. Eddie was a shy boy who kept to himself and was exceptionally curious. The quarry was his favorite place to go, no one was ever there and he loved jumping off the cliff into the warm water to swim.  
Once he arrived at the quarry he sat on the cliff and looked over at the vast lake below him. He took a deep breath and leaned back and looked up at the sky. After a few quiet moments, he heard something coming behind him. He sat up and looked around, before shrugging it off and laying back down.  
‘Probably just a rabbit,’Eddie thought to close his eyes once again. But the noise became louder and harder for Eddie to ignore. Then he heard a twig snap close to him and he jumped up. Standing a few feet away was a boy. Almost a boy. Eddie couldn’t be sure what he was seeing. What he saw was a tall, lanky boy with black curly hair and thick glasses. He was wearing what appeared to be a bright red waistcoat and tailcoat. He was also holding a large golden pocket watch and, what Eddie thought was the most curious thing about this curious boy, was the tall pure white rabbit ears on his head.  
“Um...excuse me?”Eddie said.  
The boy jumped and smiled at him before saying “I’m late,” and running off. Eddie had the sense to stay put and leave the boy alone but for some reason, he was running after the boy.  
“Wait!” he called out. The boy only held up his watch and shouted “I’m late” once more before running into the woods. Eddie stopped before entering the woods, he could see the rabbit (or was it a boy?) getting away. Eddie rolled his eyes and ran in. He jumped over roots and ducked under branches and finally managed to catch up with the rabbit. The rabbit looked back at him and smirked and jumped into a rabbit hole. This time Eddie didn’t hesitate, he immediately jumped in and instead of hitting the ground as he expected, he began to fall. He screamed louder than he thought he could, he felt tears welling up in his eyes.  
“Oh god, I’m going to die! I’m going to die and no one will ever find me! My momma will never know what happened to me!”Through the falling, he was getting turned up and down and side to side. Somehow he managed to right himself as if he was standing up, suddenly his shorts puffed up. They were acting as a parachute! Eddie looked down at his baby blue shorts with the white frills at the end.  
“Curious I don’t remember putting these on...let alone owning them…”Eddie grabbed a fistful of his shirt which was the same baby blue and also had the same white frill around the sleeves and neck, but he also had a little back tie on. “I swear I wasn’t wearing this a minute ago,” he thought for a moment. “Yes that’s right I was wearing my orange shirt and red-oh!”  
Eddie started to look around him and noticed that the walls had faded from dirt to purple tile with objects such as clocks, chairs, and even cabinets floating by!  
“How curious! Do you suppose these are lost things? Don't suppose you could lose a whole kitchen cabinet though…”Eddie mumbled. “Though I suppose-oh!”Eddie started to stay that he supposed that you could lose a kitchen if you had lost your home, but he had quickly started to fall again. Instead of falling for a long time he rather quickly landed on a large pile of pillows and cushions.  
“Now this is just getting silly. Think about how many germs are on this…”Eddie quickly climbed off of the pillows and looked around him. He was at the end of a long hallway. The floor was black and white tile but it was covered in dirt and the wood of the walls and doors down the hall was rotting. “Well...that rabbit couldn’t have gotten far, ”Eddie mumbled before starting down the hall. As he walked he realized two things. #1 The hall was much longer than he expected and #2 There were doors everywhere. Some doors were tall and slim, and some were short and fat and some were on the floor and the ceiling but they all had one thing in common. They were all locked.  
“Oh come on! This has to end soon!” As soon as he said that the hall ended in a thick maroon curtain. It was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. Eddie reached his hand out and pulled back the curtain. He quickly pulled his hand back to his side and shook it off while mumbling about how dirty everything was and all the germs. Behind the curtain were a wall and a door. The door though was small, so small Eddie probably couldn’t get his whole foot through! Eddie squatted down in front of the door and pulled on the handle, but it wouldn’t open. Eddie stood back up and looked around hoping to find a clue as to how to open the door. Instead, he found a small glass table in the middle of the room.  
“I...I don’t think that was here before…”Eddie cautiously walked to the table and saw a small glass bottle with a label that said ‘Drink Me’. Eddie, being the cautious boy he was, didn’t like eating and drinking things just because the bottle said so. Especially bottles that appeared out of nowhere. But of course, Eddie is also curious, and nothing had gone wrong yet so he figured he’d be okay. Eddie opened the bottle and sniffed the liquid inside, it didn’t smell like anything special so he assumed it would be safe. He took a large gulp and smiled, it surprisingly tasted quite nice, like warm chocolate chip cookies and lemonade on a hot summer's day. Eddie soon realized that he was below the table. He looked around in confusion and realized he had shrunk and was now the perfect size to go through the door.  
Eddie ran to the door but it still wouldn’t open. He looked at the table and could see a key next to the bottle.  
“That wasn’t there before! Now, this is just unfair!”He sat down almost definitely when he noticed a small tin box, inside the box, was a small spice cake that said ‘Eat Me’. “Oh for hell’s sake alright!”Eddie took a large bite getting more frustrated with this silly game. Due to such a large bite, Eddie grew almost too tall for the room and had to hunch over to stop his head hitting the ceiling. Eddie scooped the key into his hand and drank the rest of the shrinking potion. Finally, he had the key and quickly unlocked the door, and opened it. Once he stepped outside he could hardly believe his eyes. It looked like he was in an overgrown courtyard. Steps were leading down to a cobblestone patio that had weeds and grass poking out. There were overturned white rusting furniture and broken tea sets, but most curiously was the plant life. There were mushrooms the size of trees varying of shade and color and beautiful vibrant flowers as tall as he was! Eddie moved closer to the flowers and was inspecting them when they opened their eyes.  
Eddie screamed in surprise and jumped back, his scream caused all of the flowers to shout in alarm too, sending the strangest creatures Eddie had ever seen flying. There were butterflies made out of actual toast and butter and tiny dragons with small fly wings and rocking horses with large wings.  
“What’s going on?! Where am I?! Who are you?!”Eddie yelled.  
“That is what I would like to know the young man!”One of the flowers, a daisy yelled.  
“Yeah! You come into our garden and start screaming your head off and start asking us questions?!” A Lavender yelled.  
“Look I’m sorry I’m just confused is all,” Eddie said crossing his arms.  
“Now ladies please, this boy is just scared! Leave him be!”A Rose said she was the leader of them. “Now, little boy, what’s your name?”She asked smiling kindly at him.  
Eddie, having grown up to have perfect manners said “Eddie Kapsbrak, and you?” he smiled back.  
“Oh what a pleasant little boy, I’m Rose, and these are the flowers. This is our garden, we were just having a little nap when you woke us,” She explained.  
“Oh I’m sorry, I hadn’t known,” Eddie rubbed his hands together furiously. “Quite alright my dear, now where is it that you’re trying to get to? Maybe we could help?”  
“Well that’s just the problem, you see I had been following a white rabbit but now I don’t know where he’s gone,” Eddie sat down criss-cross, exasperated. Rose rubbed her chin thoughtfully, “Actually I think we did see a rabbit, didn’t we girls?” All of the flowers nodded and chimed in with “oh yes yes we did”s and “I do believe so!’s.  
“You did! Do you know which way he went?”Eddie jumped again, practically bouncing up and down. “Oh yes, my dear, he went just that way,” Rose pointed one of her leaves towards the woods, where the trees were so tall, it looked as though they reached the sky.  
“Oh thank you! Thank you so much!”Eddie called as he began to run towards the woods, after the rabbit.


	2. Chapter 2

Eddie had run for what felt like forever and soon became tired. He decided to sit down for a moment and take a rest. He found a nice little clearing with a log sitting in the center.   
“Yes that looks pleasant, but just for a moment, I do need to find that damn rabbit after all,” Eddie said sitting down and taking a deep breath. No sooner had he begun to relax then two figures stepped out of the shadows. They were two angry-looking boys wearing matching red, waist-high pants, faded yellow shirts with comically oversized blood-red ties and red and yellow parcel hats. The only two things about them were the height difference and their name tags, pinned to their right chest pocket. The taller one’s name tag read ‘Tweedledee’ and the shorter are read ‘Tweedledum’.   
“Well well well, what do we have here Belch?”Tweedledee said menacingly.  
“Looks like a lost boy, Patrick,” Tweedledum (or was it Belch? This place was getting more confusing by the minute).   
“Um excuse me...who are you?”Eddie said, standing quickly.   
“We’re the TweedleTwins,” said Patrick.  
“But you referred to each other as a different name than those on your name tags. So what are your names?”  
“These are our official names, given to us by the Red Queen,” Belch said grinning.  
Clearly, he shouldn’t have said that because as soon as he had finished talking, Patrick hit Belch upside the head.  
“Don’t tell him that you idiot!”Patrick whisper shouted. Eddie looked between the two boys. ‘Now this is quite stupid. Two names! Just pick one!’Eddie thought.   
“Whatever let's just get this little kid!”Belch yelled, spinning on Eddie and pulling a large, sharp knife out of his pocket. Eddie froze. This psycho was going to murder him! And he had no way to defend himself!  
“What the fuck?!”Eddie screamed and turned to run but Patrick was suddenly behind him and wrapped his arms around the smaller boys' waist. Eddie kicked and screamed but Belch was coming closer and closer, but no sooner had Belch raised the knife did they hear a voice.   
“Excuse me, but I don’t think you belong here.”The voice said, it was smokey and seemed to be coming from all over. Just hearing that sentence made Eddie a little nervous but mostly excited and relaxed. The TweedleTwins and Eddie were looking all around them when they all three noticed a large grin in a tree. The grin had nobody, but there was no doubt that, as haunting as it seemed, it was a beautiful smile. Soon a body began to materialize seemingly out of thin air, giving the grin a face and a body.   
It was a boy. He was tall and had curly brown hair and pale skin. He was wearing a large soft-looking magenta scarf and a dark purple suit with magenta stripes. The boy also had deep purple ears on his head.   
‘Just like the rabbit,’Eddie thought.   
“Sorry boys but you shouldn’t be here. You’re out of the Red Queen’s territory now” The boy said still grinning. He stared unblinkingly at the boys.   
“Chesire,” Patrick sneered.   
“Tweedledee,” Chesire, turned his unwavering stare to him and stared into his eyes for so long Eddie thought the two could have stayed like that for months.   
“Come on, Tweedledum. Let’s go,” Patrick dropped Eddie on his butt and he and his brother left without looking back over their shoulders.  
Eddie turned back to Cheshire who sighed, his grin gone. “Those fucking brats are the worst…”Cheshire muttered.   
“Thank you, mister,” Eddie said standing up. Cheshire turned to him and grinned widely again.  
“And who are you?” he asked sliding like water out of the tree and walking gracefully towards Eddie.   
“Oh! I’m Eddie Kaspbrak,” he held out his hand politely. Cheshire looked down at Eddie’s outstretched hand before stepping closer to him. “I uh...I was looking for a white rabbit but now I’m lost,” Eddie looked down, shuddering under the boy's gaze.  
“Oh! You’re him, then,” Chesire circled Eddie, studying him up and down.   
“Um...what do you mean?”Eddie asked.   
“Hmm I guess I shouldn’t tell you, but I can take you to him,”  
“The rabbit?”Eddie asked hopefully.  
“Mhm, and a few others. Come on,” Cheshire gestured for Eddie to follow as he walked away, into the woods. 

“So...why did they have two names?”Eddie asked looking up at Cheshire. Cheshire stooped and grinned, “They told you their real names, huh. They are stupid,” he reached his arms up and folded them behind his head. “Here, everyone has two names. Their official name, either chosen or given. And then everyone has their real names,” Cheshire looked over at Eddie and grinned, “Here you should only give your real name to people you trust.”  
Eddie nodded and thought for a moment, “Well...what’s your name?” he asked. Cheshire laughed and shook his head, “Can’t tell you yet,”

Eddie and Cheshire walked in silence for what seemed like hours before they walked out of the woods and into an open field. The sky was gray and it looked like it was about to storm. The field was overgrown with tall, golden brown grass, stretching for miles. But a few steps ahead of them was a table. Well, multiple tables placed together to make one very long table. There were chairs situated all around the table but there were only three chairs occupied. On the left was a large boy with golden brown hair and matted brown rabbit ears. He was wearing a white tuxedo suit that was covered in stains and ripped in certain places. In the middle was the strangest person Eddie had ever seen. The boy sat in a large, faded, purple, cushioned chair. He wore a green top hat with an orange ribbon tied around it. And a mismatched suit, varying in style and color. And lastly on the right-  
“Mr. Rabbit!”Eddie shouted. The three figures looked up in surprise, Eddie saw the rabbit break into a grin, turn to the boy in the middle and say something before turning to look back at Eddie.   
“Come on, don’t get too excited,” Cheshire mumbled pushing on Eddie’s back gently, indicating for him to start walking. Once they had gotten closer to the table, Eddie could see everyone’s faces. The other rabbit was smiling kindly at Eddie, and the boy in the middle looked sickly. He was pale, with heavy bags under his eyes. His eyes were a dull green and he looked extremely disinterested. And the rabbit was grinning, his leg bouncing up and down in excitement.   
“See, I told you he was cute,” The Rabbit said turning to the middle boy. Eddie felt his face heat up slightly but kept his eyes on the group. Cheshire left Eddie's side and went to the middle boy.  
“Hatter look, White Rabbit brought him,” Eddie heard him say. Eddie was starting to panic, what did Cheshire mean? Before Eddie could ask, Hatter (Eddie assumed this was his name) looked at him and smiled weakly.   
“Hell-Hello,” Hatter stood up on the table and walked over to where Eddie stood. “So-so glad yo-you could...could co-come.” Hatter held his hand out, and Eddie grabbed it hesitantly. Hatter pulled him onto the table and walked him back towards the others. “Yes...Yes, y-you can sit sit sit right...right here,” Hatter stuttered out with much difficulty. Eddie climbed off the table and into the seat Hatter had indicated, next to the Rabbit.   
“Don’t mind Hatter, his stuttering gets worse when he’s excited,” The Rabbit whispered.   
“Well well...no-now now that we...we’re all here. L-L-Let’s diss...cuss,” Hatter seated himself placing his arms on the table.   
“Hatter! You forgot to offer him tea!” the other rabbit gasped.   
“OH! Yes yes yes...Near...Nearly f-f-forgot!”Hatter jumped up again, ran to grab a teacup that had already been filled with tea. “Here...here you are.”  
Eddie looked at the tea and back at Hatter who looked expectantly at Eddie. Eddie took a sip of the drink, which seemed to please Hatter since he sat back down.   
“S-S-So, let’s talk,” Hatter said.


	3. Chapter 3

“Yes let’s now I have some questions,” Eddie demanded, crossing his arms. “Alright, firstly. Where am I? Second, who are you, people? And lastly, what the hell is going on?!”   
“Rabbit, why don’t you take him to see the caterpillar before anything...I think he might be better suited for this,” Cheshire suggested. The White Rabbit nodded and stood up, “Come on,” he grabbed Eddie’s hand and began to walk away from the group.   
“Wait no, what?”Eddie was beyond confused at this point. He just wanted some straight answers!   
“Hey, it’s okay!”The Rabbit said “Here let’s just get some basic things out of the way, huh? Firstly, hi, my name is Richie, and you?”  
“I thought you weren’t supposed to tell people your real name?”Eddie said.   
“Well yeah, but that’s only if you know magic. And you don’t know magic. Cheshire’s real name is Stan, The March Hare’s name is Ben, and The Mad Hatter, the bastard, is Bill,” Richie explained calmly.   
“Oh...well I’m Eddie. Eddie Kaspbrak. So...what’s going on here? Why is this place look like there's been a war? And Chesh-er...Stan said something about a red queen when I was attacked by those twins,” Eddie asked.   
Richie’s face darkened like he was remembering something horrible. “There was a war. There were two kingdoms. The Red and the White. The White Kingdom was the most peaceful and powerful, while the Red was cruel and corrupt. After a few battles, The White Kingdom won the war and banished the Red Queen. A few years passed and we soon heard whispers that the Red Queen was gaining power. He had made allies with something we thought was only a myth, The Jabberwocky. He came and first and he killed Bill’s little brother Georgie. And Bill, who was the White Queen at the time, lost it. He became so depressed that the kingdom lost all its power.  
“Which caused the death of many people, the Red Queen ruled again and instead of trying to fight back, Bill ran away. He left the head knight, Beverly, in charge. He came and stayed with Ben and me when he made himself the Mad Hatter and I, the White Rabbit. A very sacred job, but I didn’t want it, much better as a hatter I am.”  
Eddie nodded along, extremely interested in the story, “What’s a White Rabbit’s job?”Eddie asked.  
“A White Rabbit leaves this place and goes to earth, we search for the person we think would be best suited to help solve our problems, there’s also prophecies and shit but in the end, it’s the same, ‘Wonderland will face extreme dangers and instead of people fixing it we ask a human to do it blah blah blah’” Richie rolled his eyes and stopped walking. “But I suppose it’d be better if Mike explained all this.”  
Eddie looked around, they were in the middle of nowhere, all that was in front of them was more mushrooms. Eddie opened his mouth to ask what was going on but felt a rough shove and we went falling forwards. 

Instead of hitting the ground Eddie kept falling until he landed on a mushroom. He sat up and looked around, he was in a forest of mushrooms, and on top of the tallest was The Caterpillar. He was entirely blue, save for his dark skin. He was smoking a hookah and puffing different shapes each of varying colors.   
“Excuse me? Are you Mike? The Caterpillar?”Eddie called. Mike looked down at him and blew another smoke ring, this a bright green. “I suppose Richie and his trash mouth told you?”Mike didn’t wait for an answer before he began again, “What is it you would like to know?” he asked, slowly sitting up.   
“Um...I would like to know why I’m here,” Eddie said. Mike laughed and set the hookah pipe down before sliding off the mushroom so he was standing in front of Eddie.   
“You, Eddie Kaspbrak, are here to rally the White Queen’s followers and help fight the Jabberwock.”  
“How am I supposed to do that?”Eddie asked shocked. Him start a rebellion? Lead an army? Fight some powerful evil he’d never even heard of?  
“That’s for me to know, and you to figure out,” Mike said, putting his arm around Eddie’s shoulder. “Come on, you know what to do. Let’s get back to the table. I do believe Bill’s freshened up the tea.”  
In a puff of smoke, Eddie was walking back to the table with Mike.  
“Gentlemen! I do believe we need to talk!”Mike called out. Ben jumped and threw a plate towards Mike’s head, who managed to duck just in time.   
“Sorry!”Ben called. Eddie and Mike sat down and looked at Bill who was staring off into space.   
“Well...I suppose we should start. Eddie, you will be the White Queen’s champion, Bill-”   
“Wait wait wait! I never agreed to this!”Eddie yelled cutting off Mike. This caused everyone at the table to look at him in surprise. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened to you but I am not sure what’s going on here and I’m not about to just go kill some Jabberwocky for you! I’ve never even punched someone!”  
“You coward,” Bill said standing up on the table and walking over so he was standing above Eddie. “We brought you here so you could fix this and now you won’t?! You’re a coward!”  
“Says you!”Eddie stood up, shaking in anger “You are the one who abandoned your kingdom and let all those people die! If you want something fixed, go back to your kingdom and fucking do something!”Eddie screamed before stomping off in anger. As he left he saw china dishes flying past him but he didn’t turn around. He just walked back into the woods and away from these crazy people.   
“Eds! Wait!”Eddie turned around and saw Richie running towards him. Eddie stopped and crossed his arms, trying to look as displeased as possible. “Please Eddie...we need you,” Richie looked at Eddie imploringly/ Looking at Richie and remembering what he had told Eddie about the war, he struggled to stay mad.   
“Look...I am not a fighter, I can’t help lead an army and get Bill back to the throne, I’m sorry but I can’t,” Eddie said.   
“Just...think about it, okay?”Richie asked before turning away from Eddie and walking back to the table.


	4. Chapter 4

Eddie was completely lost. He didn’t know how long he walked, he just knew he was tired and hungry. In the past hour, his walking had become much more sluggish and his legs began to shake. Eddie stopped and sat under a tree, closing his eyes and breathing heavily. His stomach twisted in painful knots and let out loud growls every few minutes.   
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have left...I should have asked Richie where to go-’  
“Hello, little boy!” Eddie’s eyes snapped open, standing in front of him was a man and a girl. The man was old and dressed smartly with thick glasses, and thinning blonde hair. The girl next to him looked about Eddie’s age, she was dressed in a blue jumpsuit with a white apron and a tight side ponytail.   
“Are you lost?”The man inquired, stepping closer to Eddie. Eddie didn’t move, he felt as though he could trust this man, he seemed nice enough.  
“Yes sir, I haven’t any idea where I am and I’m very hungry and tired,” Eddie explained standing up.   
“Oh, dear! Well, why don’t you come with my friend and me? I’m The Walrus, and this is The Carpenter,” The Walrus smiled, holding his hand out for Eddie to take. Eddie stepped forward and took the man’s hand and began walking with them.   
“So where are we going?”Eddie inquired.  
“You’ll see,” The Carpenter said smirking blowing a huge bubble with her gum. 

Sooner than Eddie expected they reached a castle. It was tall and skinny, with many bridges and turrets. It was mostly red and black and there was a large bridge connecting from the main castle to a small tower that was shaped like a heart. There was a dark, rotting drawbridge for the three of them to cross and when Eddie looked over into the moat he saw it swarming with heads. Eddie screamed and jumped back, but The Carpenter just pushed him forwards.   
The inside of the castle grounds was beautiful, everything looked healthy and was flourishing while outside everything was dead. Eddie noticed that there was only 1 kind of flower growing, red roses. Eddie looked up at the big, red double doors in front of him. There were two hearts painted on the doors, one back and one gold. The doors swung open and the inside was even more impressive. The inside was decorated in red wallpaper with black hearts on it and blood-red carpets with golden hearts lining it. Everything it seemed was decorated either red, black, or gold and all had hearts on it. There were also multiple black vases filled with dark red roses, the rose’s perfume was so thick that Eddie found it difficult to breathe. Eddie searched his pockets and finally found his inhaler, something, he didn’t know at the time, he didn’t need.   
They soon reached another door, this one just as grand as the front and pushed it open. It was a throne room. The first thing Eddie noticed was the throne, a large red chair shaped like a heart, sitting on a raised platform, also shaped like a heart. The boy who sat on the throne, Eddie instantly realized was the Red Queen. He had long blonde hair and a squashed face, that looked incredibly disinterested in what was going on. He was wearing a red and black pinstripe suit with golden hearts on the sleeves and a golden crown with a heart-shaped ruby in the center.   
“Your majesty, we found this boy in the woods,” The Walrus said throwing Eddie onto the ground. The Red Queen looked down at Eddie and rolled his eyes.   
“Okay?”He sounded tired and like he had so many better things to be doing. Eddie looked around at the room and saw in the corner, standing in the doorway, a clown. The clown was dressed in an old Victorian-era clown costume, and he looked at Eddie for a long time without blinking. Eddie slowly pulled his eyes away from the clown once the Red Queen began talking again.  
“What can you do?” he asked looking down at Eddie.   
“Pardon?”  
“What can you do! Can you fight? Can you cook? What can you do?!” at this point the Queen was shouting so loud Eddie coiled back slightly in fear.   
“Oh, I um...I can clean,” Eddie thought of the first thing he felt he was truly good at.   
“Hmm...alright. Walrus, Carpenter. Take him down to the servant’s quarters,” The Walrus and Carpenter picked Eddie up again, “And as soon as you’ve changed get to work.”

Eddie stumbled along, occasionally tripping over his own feet because the two holding him were moving much faster than he. Eventually, after going down multiple flights of stairs, they reached a small wooden door.   
“This is where you will stay. Cleaning supplies are in there,” The Walrus gestured to a small closet opposite Eddie’s room. The Walrus and Carpenter dropped him on the ground and walked away. Eddie slowly got up and stepped inside his room. It was smaller than any room he had ever seen. There was one twin-sized bed crammed into the corner next to a small dresser, that when Eddie opened it, revealed his uniform.   
“Jesus fuck...how did I manage to get into this mess?”Eddie pulled on his new uniform, a pair of red shorts with black hearts on the sides and a black and white striped t-shirt. Eddie walked out of the room and grabbed the cleaning supplies.

He had decided to work his way down so he started in the entrance hall. All-day he worked endlessly to get the palace clean. Finally, when the moon was high in the sky a guard came and told him he could be finished for the day. Eddie gratefully carried everything back downstairs and walked into his room. Sitting on the floor was a small tray, it had a small portion of peas, a slice of bread and a glass of warm water.   
“Better than nothing I suppose,” Eddie didn’t realize how hungry he was until he was finished and wanting more. As he laid down to sleep he began to cry. He wanted to go home, his mom was probably worried sick about him, he wished he hadn’t followed that stupid rabbit! Soon Eddie had cried himself to sleep.

The next morning there was another tray, this had water and oatmeal that was so bland a mushy Eddie didn’t think he could finish it.   
“Come on Eddie, who knows when you’ll eat again,” he mumbled to himself. And soon he was back to work. Today he cleaned the bottom floors and while he was scrubbing the floors he noticed a pair of shoes in front of him. Eddie looked up slowly and there was the clown. Eddie’s face went white with fear, seeing the clown far away was one thing, but having this clown only a few inches from you was another. The clown leaned down so his face was directly in front of Eddie’s.  
“Hello Eddie,” The clown grinned. Eddie gasped and began to back away. The clown only kept coming until Eddie had backed into a wall. “Would you like a balloon?”The clown pulled a bundle of red balloons from behind him and held one out to Eddie, who shook his head no, unable to talk. The clown’s face fell. It looked at him for a long time, one of his eyes drifting off to look at Eddie’s neck while the other stayed locked with Eddie’s eyes. Eddie noticed that the clown’s mouth was hanging slightly open a dribble of spit was pouring out as if he was slobbering from hunger.   
“Boy!”Eddie looked behind the clown and saw a guard standing there. “The Queen wants you to tend to the gardens. Get going!”   
Eddie stood up slowly, the clown's eyes following him. And he scooted past the clown and walked calmly towards the guard.   
“Eddie!”Eddie froze and turned back around to the clown. “Don’t forget your balloon,” the clown laughed as a red balloon floated over the Eddie. Eddie hesitantly reached out and grabbed the string before sprinting up the stairs.

Once Eddie was outside he took deep breaths and tried to stop his hands from shaking. He walked over to the garden shed and began to open it when he heard arguing. He began to walk towards the noise and when he got there saw a group of gardeners surrounding a white rose bush.   
“he’ll cut our head’s off!” one of them shouted.  
“Not if he doesn’t know!” said another.  
“Excuse me?”Eddie said. All the gardeners jumped to attention, trying to cover the bush. “What are you arguing about?”Eddie asked.   
“Well you see, the Queen like red roses, but we planted white roses and he’ll cut off our heads and we don’t know what to do!”One shouted before breaking down crying.   
“Oh there there, he won’t cut off your heads. We’ll just....”Eddie looked around, “Paint the roses red!” he said running over to the shed and pulling out paintbrushes and cans of red paint.   
“Paint them red?” one asked inspecting a paintbrush.   
“Uh-huh! The Red Queen'll hardly tell the difference!”Eddie said begging to paint. The other gardeners grinned and began to paint as well. Soon they had finished painting every rose red.   
“Thanks, kid!” one of them said as they put the paint away, Eddie opened his mouth to speak when he heard a voice yell. “WHO PAINTED MY ROSE’S RED?!”The gardener’s all panicked and ran away, leaving Eddie alone to face the Red Queen.   
Eddie couldn’t move, his feet were simply glued to the ground. And once the Red Queen saw him, and saw the paintbrush he felt as though he could faint.   
“You. You painted my beautiful roses red! How dare you!”The Red Queen had picked Eddie up by his collar and was shaking him back and forth. “Did you do this by yourself? Or did you have help?” the Red Queen yelled, spit flying onto Eddie’s cheek. Eddie could see the other gardeners hiding behind a bush, shaking with fright.   
“No. It was just me.”  
“OFF WITH HIS HEAD!”


	5. Chapter 5

Eddie was pacing in his cell, wiping his sweaty palms on his shorts every few minutes. He felt as though he was going to throw up any second.   
“Y’know, you really shouldn’t have left.”  
Eddie’s head snapped up and standing in front of him was Stan.   
“Stan! Holy shit dude!”Eddie felt his eyes brimming with tears. Stan grinned his famous grin at him and opened the cell door. “You are so lucky I’m sneaky,” Stan laughed. Eddie ran out and hugged Stan tightly around the neck before letting him go.   
“Alright, alright, let’s get you out of here,” Stan said, leading Eddie out of the prison. Once they were out they began sneaking through different halls, looking for an exit. Just as they rounded the corner, Eddie saw the clown. He pulled Stan back by his collar, thanking the lord the clown hadn’t seen them.   
“Holy shit Eddie, do you know what that is?”Stan looked scared, which did nothing to help Eddie with his growing fear.   
“Some creepy ass clown?”Eddie asked.  
“That's the Jabberwocky.”   
“Motherfucker,” Eddie hissed, he grabbed his inhaler from his pocket and took a few puffs.   
Then, the clown began to laugh. “I can smell you! And taste your delicious fear!” he called. Eddie and Stan heard the clown’s feet shuffling towards them on the velvet carpet.   
‘Shitshitshitshitshit’Eddie thought as he grabbed Stan’s hand, pulling him back down the hall. As they ran they heard the clown laugh loudly and began to chase after them. Eddie chanced a look behind them and saw the clown. His mouth was wide open and thousands of teeth were sticking out. His hands had turned into long claws, but they were rotting and covered in bandages. The clown's eyes were bright orange and he didn’t seem to blink as he ran, his decaying fingers just inches from them.   
“Fuck!”Eddie and Stan began to run faster and turn around every corner they could.   
“This way!”Stan yelled, running to the left. But they had reached a dead end.  
“Why would we go this way?!”Eddie screamed.   
“Trust me!”  
The clown laughed again as it came around the corner. He was walking towards him, but it was slow and jerky. His legs were bending every which way and he wouldn’t stop laughing. He swiped his arm out, then lunged at Eddie. 

Eddie screamed and threw his hands up, there was a loud bang and when he opened his eyes, the clown was knocked back several yards.   
“What the-?” but before Eddie could finish Stan had grabbed his arm and dragged him through a small opening in the wall.   
The tunnel was made completely of dirt with occasional bricks in the ground. It was so dark Eddie could barely make out Stan’s face, but he seemed to know where he was going. Once they were far enough ways away from the entrance, Stan pushed Eddie against the wall.   
“You know magic?!” he yelled, crossing his arms.  
“I don’t know! I don’t think I do…”Eddie thought back to what he managed to do, he blasted that clown far away from him and Stan. He had no idea how he managed to do it, he just felt like he needed to. He wanted the clown away from him and stan otherwise it would kill them.   
“Well you do...come on, let’s go,” Stan spun on his heel and kept walking. Eddie and Stan didn’t speak until Stan stopped in front of the ladder. 

They came out just outside the castle gates. The sky was gray as ever and everything was just as dead as the last time he had seen the outside of this damned castle.   
“Look, what happened in there...I don’t know how it happened. I just...he was coming at us and I felt like I had to do something and then it just...happened,” Eddie stared at Stan hoping for some kind of reaction.   
Stan grinned and shrugged, “We’ll ask Mike about it once we get back.”  
“Back where?”Eddie asked as they started walking.   
“Back to the White Castle of course! Once you left Richie told Bill off, said you were right, which you are of course. Bill took a while to himself before he came back and apologized for everything he did. Course none of us blame him, losing a brother like that is hard but...you knocked some sense into him  
“So the next day, he gave up being Mad Hatter, Richie is beyond astatic by the why, and we marched back to the castle and released Bev of her position as Queen holder. She’s very happy to be back in the action,” he laughed, “Then he said ‘Stan, go find Eddie, we need him.’ So...here we are,” Stan looked wearily at Eddie. Eddie kept a straight face forward, refusing to acknowledge the question of if he was going to fight the Jabberwocky.   
“That’s great,” was all he said.

Finally, the castle was in sight. It was tall, much taller than the Red castle. And grander. It had multiple towers and bridges and side area’s jetting out of it. The path up to the front steps was all white stone with cherry blossom trees planted next to it. The garden was much friendlier than the Reds also. There was a giant fountain and beautiful pale green hedges with white roses, lavender and blue forget me not. Milling about were the White Queen’s guards. Instead of menacing playing cards, they were friendly looking chess pieces. They saluted Stan and Eddie as they passed. The steps towards the door were polished white marble, and the doors were huge and painted turquoise. The inside of the castle was even better. It was all white marble and turquoise pillars. The entered the throne room and Eddie gasped in disbelief.  
The room was the most beautiful thing Eddie had ever seen, a white and blue checkered floor with a pale blue carpet leading up to the throne which was tall and skinny, made out of a turquoise velvet. And the person sitting on the throne, Eddie hardly recognized as Bill.   
Firstly, he looked much healthier, the color had returned to his checks and his green eyes were much brighter now. His hair, which was a light brown, was combed off the side, framing his face nicely. And sitting on his head was a small silver crown with diamonds and pearls placed throughout. He also wore a beautiful white suit, with lace trimmings and pearl buttons. And off of the jacket was white silk and white lace train that made him look like an angel.   
“Eddie! Stan!” Bill smiled, standing up and hugging them both. Stan grinned even larger and took Bill’s hand kissing it gently, avoiding the pearl and diamond rings.   
Bill blushed and turned to Eddie smiling, “Ed-Eddie...I-I am sorr...sorry about what...what ha-happened t-t-the last time...time we m-m-meet,” he stuttered out, visibly struggling. Eddie smiled and shook his head.  
“It’s okay Bill, I’m just glad you’re back where you should be.”  
“Oh! Speak Speaking o-o-of being back...Rich...Richie!”Bill called. And then the doors were thrown open and in came a bouncing Richie, looking much happier and more comfortable in his clothes.   
“Yes, Bill? EDS!”Richie shouted running over and hugging all the air out of Eddie. Eddie blushed and tried to push him off.  
“That’s not my name dickhead!” he shouted but Richie just laughed and kissed his cheek. Bill and Stan laughed, taking each other’s hands.   
“Come on Richie let him go, show him to his room, He’d probably like a bath,” Stan said walking out of the room with Bill who was smiling like a dork and had the biggest heart eyes ever seen.   
“Come on Eddie Spaghetti! Let’s get you cleaned up!”Richie took Eddie’s hand and began skipping out of the room. 

Richie opened the door and lead Eddie inside. Eddie’s room was one of the best bedrooms he'd ever seen. In the middle of the room was a huge, soft-looking bed. And glass double doors that lead onto a balcony overlooking the garden and the setting sun. Eddie also noticed another set of double doors, leading into what he assumed was the bathroom.   
“Alright Eds, think you can manage from here? Though I am not opposed to staying!”Richie grinned raising his eyebrows.  
“Beep beep Richie,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes and pushing Richie out the door. Eddie put his face in his hands and giggled lightly to himself. 

Eddie walked into the bathroom and saw that there was already a hot bath ready for him. He looked around before undressing and climbing into the warm water. He sighed contently and closed his eyes for a minute. He started thinking about what had happened with the clown, and how he might have magical powers.   
Eddie opened his eyes again and looked down at his hands. He looked around once more, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He concentrated and put his hands up, and…nothing happened. Eddie dropped his hands back in the water.  
‘Maybe I just don’t have the right motivation’ he thought picking up a bottle of sweet-smelling soap. He placed it on the opposite end of the tub, which was the size of a small pool, and concentrated. He thought with all his might that he wanted that bootle next to him. He raised his hands and thought even harder. Then he felt it.   
It was like reaching down into a deep pit and pulling something up. It sent waves of electricity crashing over Eddie, his head was pounding and his arms began to shake. But then, in his hands was the bootle. Eddie opened his eyes, the electric feeling pulling back, and slinking back into the pit. Eddie grinned shakily and laughed a little.   
“Holy shit…”


	6. Chapter 6

After Eddie got out of the bath and dried off, he saw a pair of silk pajamas and a tray of food had been left on his bed. A note had also been placed next to the food, it said in nice cursive writing:  
Eddie, Stan told me what had happened to you while you were gone, I am so sorry again for everything. I assume you just want to eat and go to sleep, once you’ve finished you can set the tray outside. Also, there are fresh clothes for you in the wardrobe - Bill

Eddie sat the note down and pulled the pajamas on. He grabbed the tray and began to eat, sitting on the floor. Once he was finished, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.   
Again the electricity came over him, except this time it felt wilder and more in control. Eddie focused on keeping it down and just using a little bit of the magic. He opened one eye and saw the tray flying around the room. Eddie gasped and tried to set it down again. He just managed to stop it from crashing into the wall and breaking. Slowly it set it down on the ground and picked it up, carrying it outside.   
‘Suppose I ought to learn how to control this…’ he thought, looking around the hallway he was in. He went back inside his room and grabbed a silk robe and slippers, before creeping out of the room quietly.   
“I suppose the first place one should go when reaching something in the library.”  
And so that’s where he went. After getting lost and turned around several times he found it.

The ceiling was tall and the walls were just bookshelves. There was a grand staircase leading up to other floors of books. Eddie laughed breathlessly and looked ahead of him. Sitting in the middle of the room was a large book that was closed but read INDEX.   
“Oh are you here for a book too?” Eddie screamed and jumped in the air spinning around. He saw Ben, the March Hare, standing in front of him with his usual dirty white tux.   
“Oh I’m sorry, didn’t mean to startle you!”Ben laughed.   
“No no, it’s fine just....just had a frightful day is all,” Eddie explained.   
“Need help working that?”Ben asked coming over and pointing at the INDEX.   
“Oh...Oh yes, that would be lovely.”  
“Sure thing! So what kind of book are you looking for?”  
Eddie thought for a moment. What was he looking for? A book about the magic he supposed, but then again in this magical world there's gonna be loads of those.   
“A book about...learning magic,” Eddie decided. Ben nodded and turned towards the book. “Learning Magic, please” he spoke.   
A few seconds later books were flying off the shelves and were landing in Eddie and Ben’s arms. Ben laughed and handed the books he had caught to Eddie.   
“There you go, have fun!” he said before turning to the INDEX and saying whatever book it is he wanted. 

Eddie made his way back to his room and, once there, began reading. After a few hours, his eyes started to drop and he kept drifting off. He slowly closed the book and climbed into the soft bed, and almost immediately fell asleep.   
The next morning Eddie woke up to Richie grinning down at him.   
“Jesus Christ! You almost gave me a heart attack!” he yelled at Richie laughed manically.   
“Come on cutie, time to get up. Breakfast is in 20 minutes, I’ll wait outside and walk you down,” Richie said while walking out the door. Eddie climbed out of bed and into the bathroom to brush his teeth and hair. After he was finished he walked to the wardrobe and pulled it open. He grabbed a pair of white shorts with blue bishops on the sides and a white shirt with the same design. He opened the door and saw Richie talking to a girl.  
The girl was wearing silver chain mail armor and had short red hair. She had a pretty round face that was dotted with freckles. She was extremely pretty.   
“Hey! Eddie spaghetti! Want you to meet one of my best friends in the whole world, the very badass Beverly Marsh,” Richie said bowing between them.   
Beverly laughed and held out her hand, which Eddie shook gently. “So you’re Eddie? Yeah I’ve heard a lot about you, mainly from this dork,” at this she pointed at Richie who looked scandalized, “Mostly about how cute you are,” she laughed.   
Eddie blushed and looked down at the floor.   
“Aww! Eds, you’re adorable!”Richie yelled hugging Eddie tightly and kissing his face.   
“Ugh! Let go of me!”Eddie screamed, not wanting Richie to stop.   
“Oh alright,” Richie groaned setting Eddie down but not letting go of his hand. 

Breakfast was not at all what Eddie had been expecting. He did not assume there to be as many people as there were (thankfully all of whom he had already met) but the food was completely outstanding. There were plates filled high with pancakes and bowls filled with every kind of fruit. And glasses that if you just thought of what you wanted to drink would fill up magically before your eyes. And there were loaves of bread and cheeses he’d never even heard of and meats from all around the world.   
“How curious…” he had said while eating his food.   
“S-S-So Eddie, H-H-How how are yo...you like liking y-y-your stay?”Bill asked suddenly.   
“Much better than the Red Queen’s place that’s for sure!”Eddie said which caused everyone to laugh.   
“So,” Bill said still smiling “H-H-Have y-you...given...given any...any more t-t-thought to...to o-o-our situation?”  
Eddie faltered. In truth, he hadn’t. He wanted to help these people he did! They were kind to him and had given him a place to stay and had helped him get out of being executed for god's sake! But...he couldn’t fight that clown. He had just barely escaped their last encounter. But he knew what he had to do.   
“Yes, I have actually. And...I’m going to help you,” Eddie could hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth.   
“R-R-Really?!”Bill grinned, Eddie nodded. “Oh thank you, Eddie! Thank you!”  
Eddie looked at Bill’s face, and everyone else's. All grinning happily, having hope that the war they’ve been fighting will finally be over. And hearing Bill thank him without stuttering? Eddie knew he’d made the right choice, and he knew that he would never take those words back, even if it cost him his life.


	7. Chapter 7

Over the next few weeks, Bill’s army trained for the upcoming battle. And Eddie had been secretly practicing magic. He was becoming quite good, the pros of being a fast learner. While he was practicing one night in his room he heard someone knock on his door. Eddie startled, but got up and opened the door. Mike was standing there smirking.   
“Hey, Eddie. Whatcha doing?” he asked looking over Eddie’s shoulder.   
“Oh uh...Nothing,” Eddie lied quickly. He felt for some reason he shouldn’t tell anyone about his practicing.   
“Uh-huh well, y’ know if you want to get better at defensive magic you should go down and train with Beverly. I can help too if you’d like, but she’s more of the fighter,” Mike smiled before walking away.  
“Wait! How did you know that I was practicing magic?”Eddie called.  
Mike laughed and looked back at him “Well besides the fact that you smell like magic, I know everything, Eddie.” 

The next morning, Eddie decided to take Mike’s advice and go train with Bev. After getting lost four times and having to ask two different guards where he was, Eddie finally made it to the training room in one of the side buildings.   
Beverly was already there, sparring with one of her soldiers. Eddie had never seen anyone fight before but he knew that she was extremely strong and very good.   
“Um...excuse me?”Eddie asked once he saw Beverly throw her opponent to the ground.   
“Oh! Hey Eddie! What’s up?” she asked standing up and walking towards him. She was drenched with sweat but her eyes were bright and she was smiling.   
“I...I was wondering if you could help me train? Mike said you could help me with defensive magic?”Eddie looked at the ground, intimidated by her.   
Beverly laughed and nodded, “Yeah sure! I don’t know magic very well, but I know how to fight, and if you know how to fight and you know the right spells, you’ll be good! At least that’s what Mike said…” she shrugged and turned, beckoning him to follow her.   
"Alright just follow my lead, "Beverly said getting into a defensive stance. Eddie mirrored her, excitement begging to bubble in his stomach.   
"Alright so first you're going to punch, "Beverly threw her right, quickly followed by her left hand out. Eddie followed suit, only breaking eye contact with her to look at the door, which had just opened to Mike. "Alright now, you're going to perry the punches by putting your arm out like this against your opponent's forearm."

After an hour of training with Beverly, Eddie felt good about being able to defend himself somewhat. And now he was walking with Mike to do everything again, but with magic.   
"What Beverly and her knights do is all well a good, but magic is when it gets much more interesting," Mike pushed open the door of the library and walked to the INDEX calling for a book about defensive magic.   
"So Eddie, when you do magic, especially defensive magic you have to be very much in control. Magic is wild, it can be like a wild sea in a storm one second and the next the most peaceful place in the world. It all depends on how you control it and you're emotions,"  
Mike said.   
Eddie nodded but kept quite. "Now, the first spell you will learn is for blocking your opponent. Blocking them physically is all well and good, but adding magic in the mix can be...different. I don't have magic to use and am not one to fight, but I do know what I'm doing, "Mike smiled reassuringly.   
"Now block, just like Beverly told you." Eddie did as he was told, raising his hand into the air. "And repeat after me obstructionum,"  
"Obstructionsum," once again Eddie felt that now-familiar rush of electricity and that deep pit in his stomach open up. He concentrated on his emotions and he felt the magic becoming wilder and wilder, he thought of something calm. He thought of the quarry and the summer days he spent there.  
Almost immediately he felt his arm become stronger and more stable. He felt that if anyone tried to push on it, he wouldn't budge.   
"Very good Eddie! That was very very good!" Eddie heard Mike yell. He slowly opened his eyes, and relaxed, the magic coursing through his body softening and subsiding. "You are going to save us..." Mike smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

"Eddie spaghetti!" Eddie turned around and saw Richie skipping towards him, a huge grin covering his face. Eddie laughed lightly and waved.   
"Hey, Richie, what're you doing up so late?" Eddie continued walking once Richie caught up to him. Richie and Eddie had grown quite close over the past few weeks. Whenever Eddie wasn't training and Richie wasn't doing, whatever it is he does, they were practically glued together.   
Eddie had realized that out of everyone he had ever meet, back home or in Wonderland, he felt the safest with Richie. Maybe it was how he was always able to make a joke, even when times were toughest. Or it was the way that Richie always made him feel loved without trying to control him. But it might also be the fact that Richie made him feel good.   
Whenever Eddie was around Richie, he felt lighter than air and felt like he could be himself. His head felt airy and clear and everything felt fresh and clean. Eddie just felt right, with Richie.  
"I could ask you the same question Eds," Richie smirked eyeing him curiously.   
Eddie laughed and shrugged, "Not sure to tell you that truth."  
"Hmm...well, why don't I show you something?" Richie grinned, grabbing Eddie's hand and pulled him towards the stairs. 

Richie and Eddie sat on the roof of one of the turrets. The sky was filled with stars and pulsating colors.   
"Want some?" questioned Richie, pulling a bottle of bright pink liquid out of his jacket.  
"What is it?" Eddie asked suspiciously. Richie only winked, before uncapping it and taking a long swig, then handed it to Eddie. Eddie sniffed the substance, it smelled like strawberries would, if they had been mixed with a toxic chemical.  
Eddie wrinkled his nose but took a sip anyways. It was quite sweet, it tasted exactly like a strawberry.   
"Not bad I suppose," Eddie said, begging to feel quite warm. Richie chuckled, taking another sip then handing it to Eddie. It didn't even occur to Eddie how unsanitary what they were doing was. Because all that mattered was that Eddie was drinking with a cute, crazy boy and watching the stars.  
"Hey, wanna see something cool?" Eddie looked at Richie, who nodded quickly. Eddie grinned and held out a hand, and conjured some smoke. The smoke began to take shape, it turned into a horse, that galloped through the air before quickly becoming a whale. The whale then became a bird, that flew away from the pair before fading away in the wind.  
"You amaze me..."Richie whispered, staring starry-eyed at Eddie, who laughed. Eddie hoped that Richie believed the blush on Eddie's cheeks was from the drinking.   
"God this sky is beautiful," Eddie said, the stars shining in his eyes. "I love the stars."  
"Yeah? Why?" Richie asked, chewing his fingernails.  
"Well it's just so vast and empty and it makes me feel small, but whole. Y'know? Like, that star doesn't care that I didn't clean my room today. But it also feels like that when I do something, like what I'm hoping to do here, it feels like they shine brighter when I look at them."  
"Eddie," Richie whispered.   
"Hmm?"  
"Have you ever been in love?" Eddie looked up, his eyes wide. Eddie hesitated but turned and saw Richie was already looking at him.   
Richie's eyes were beautiful. They were large and they sparkled brighter than a million stars. "Yes," Eddie whispered.   
"Me too."


	9. Chapter 9

Eddie woke up and stared at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about what had happened the night earlier.  
“Me too,” Richie whispered. Eddie leaned in, he felt Richie’s soft hand on his cheek. He felt his hot breath on his mouth. He smelled like tea and smoke.   
“Hey, guys!” Richie and Eddie jumped apart, looking behind them. Ben was standing there with Beverly, holding her hand. She looked at Richie with a single eyebrow raised. The pair had come and sat next to them and they talked the rest of the night away.  
Eddie frowned, silently cursing Ben and Beverly. Eddie hoped he would always remember the way Richie’s breath felt on his face.

“W-W-Well I...I g-guess now i-is a goo....good time... time to tell you a-all,” Bill was standing before everyone at the breakfast table. He looked shaken and tired. “The b-b-battle with the-th-the Red...Red Q-Queen...and...and th-the J-J-Jabberwock, is tomorrow.” Nobody spoke. They all knew this day would be coming sooner or later.   
“B-Bev I want to talk...talk wi-with you l-l-later about s-s-strategy,”   
Beverly nodded, “Yes, my queen.”  
“E-E-Everyone else. K-Keep t-t-training, Eddie. May....I-I-I have a….a word?”  
Eddie nodded and once everyone was gone turned to Bill.  
“Listen...Eddie. L-Last night, I...I h-had a...a d-dream. My...my brother...G-G-Georgie w-was t-t-there. H-He to-...told me the name...of the Jabberwock,” Bill’s eyes were misty and he swiped at them absentmindedly. “His name is Pennywise.”

“Mike...what can I do with magic and a person's name?” Mike looked up at Eddie, smoking his hookah out on the balcony.   
“Why?”   
“Just curious,” Eddie lied.   
“Ha curious...well Eddie saying someone’s name is nothing, but saying someone’s name with magic...it’s like being able to control them. Some, more powerful beings, like you, for example, would notice and will try to fight back. But you’re able to see through them.”  
Eddie nodded and muttered a small thanks before stalking away from Mike.

As Eddie was walking back to his room, he ran into Stan.   
“Oh, Eddie! Hi!” Stan grinned.   
“Hey Stan,” Eddie raised an eyebrow as Stan looked into his eyes for longer than is comfortable.   
“So, I was talking to Richie…”Stan said leaning down and getting right in Eddie’s face. Eddie took a few steps backward, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.   
“Haha yeah...h-how’d that go?” Eddie said becoming engrossed in the tapestry hanging on the wall next to them.   
“It was good, really good. He mentioned something. Do you know what?”Stan’s grin was becoming wider and wider by the second. Eddie’s mouth went dry and he shook his head.  
“He said that you almost kissed,” Eddie coughed and tried to clear his throat but before he could, he felt Stan grab his shirt collars and pull him closer, his smile gone.  
“Eddie, you seem like a good guy but I swear to god if you ever. EVER. Break that boy’s heart, I will personally break all 206 of your bones.”  
Eddie gulped and nodded.   
“Oh Stan l-leave him alone,” Bill said coming up from behind Stan.   
“But-” Stan began but Bill placed a hand on Stan’s head and let his hand fall gracefully down his neck and spine before resting on his lower back. Stan faltered and loosened his grip on Eddie.   
“Don’t m-mind him, he’s l-like this with everybody R-R-Richie dates, and he’s only hurt...two? T-Three? But that’s only because...because they were being d-dickheads,” Bill smiled.  
“Would have hurt Conner a lot more if you didn’t stop me,” Stan pouted.   
Surprisingly this didn’t help. Eddie nodded once more, as Bill took Stan’s hand and led him away, giggling while Stan rubbed against him. 

Eddie walked into his room and sighed, looking around. Tomorrow was judgment day and he had no clue whether he would be coming back or not. He sat in the middle of his room, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He focused on how he felt, with the sun on his face, the soft rug under his legs, the light fabric clinging to his body. He took several deep breaths before opening his eyes.   
He was no longer in his room, he wasn’t sure where he was. All he could see was inky darkness everywhere. But before he could try to move, he saw a bright, blinding light above him. It was falling, getting closer and closer until it crashed. Eddie covered his ears, the noise from the crash was deafening. When finally the noise passed, he looked up and saw three little golden balls of lights.   
“Deadlights,” he heard himself say the words but not entirely sure how they got there, he had never seen or heard about dead lights before. As he watched the lights he noticed how the began to change. They morphed into giant birds or wolves, turning into terrible monsters until finally the morphed into a clown.   
“Pennywise,” Eddie gasped. The clown’s head snapped upwards and when he saw Eddie, his face was somber and sunken. He looked angry and...hungry.   
“Hello Eddie,” the clown’s voice was heavy and whimsical. It made Eddie shiver and clench his fists.   
“What do you want?”Eddie asked. Pennywise smiled and looked away.   
“What do I want...I want you to be happy. And I can make you happy, I can make you float,” Pennywise began to laugh. Its laugh was horrible and demented, it made Eddie cringe slightly.   
“Do you want to float Eddie?” The clown took a step towards Eddie, causing him to step backward.   
Eddie didn’t answer, he was scared but he was determined not to show it, “What I want is for you to fuck off.”  
Pennywise’s smile fell and he looked at Eddie’s face, licking his lips. As he stared into Eddie’s eyes, his left eye began to drift and they both shone a brilliant orange.   
“You shouldn’t say such horrible thing’s Eddie,” Pennywise said and before Eddie knew what was happening the clown had rushed at him.   
Eddie felt the cotton glove on his throat and smelled the clown’s horrible breath. It smelled like a burning graveyard. Eddie screamed, he felt tears begin to run down his face.   
‘Idon’twanttodieIdon’twanttodieIdon’twanttodie’ he thought over and over again, not able to speak. Pennywise opened his great, horrible mouth, showing his razor blade sharp teeth, but before he could do anything, Eddie was back in his room.   
He looked around wildly until his eyes landed on Richie, who was holding his face in his hands.   
“Hey hey what happened, what was that?”Richie looked scared. Eddie couldn’t answer he felt a sob bubbling in his throat and his lip began to tremble. Eddie closed his eyes and flung himself into Richie’s chest, sobbing.  
“Whoa whoa whoa it’s okay it’s okay, I’ve got you,” Richie pulled Eddie closer, stroking his hair back.   
“I-I...I saw him, Richie...I saw Pennywise. He was gonna kill me,” Eddie said in between sobs. Richie pulled back and looked into Eddie’s face.   
“You did?” Eddie nodded.  
“I wasn’t strong enough to fight him, Rich...you saved me,” Eddie sobbed, falling back into Richie’s chest.  
“No no no no you are strong Eds. You managed to talk to him, not even the most powerful magicians have been able to talk to the Jabberwock, they just get killed. And I didn’t save you, you saved yourself. I came in and you were on the floor trembling and muttering, and when I grabbed your hand you became steady again. You brought your self back Eddie,” Richie looked into Eddie’s eyes, red and puffy from crying.   
“You are the strongest person I know,” Richie smiled before crashing his lips onto Eddie’s.   
Richie’s lips were soft, Eddie noted. ‘And sweet’ he thought, pulling gently on Richie’s coat. Richie shrugged the coat off, pushing Eddie back onto the floor, running his hand, up and down the smaller boy's sides. Finally, they pulled away, breathing heavily.   
Richie opened his mouth to say something but Eddie cut him off by kissing him quickly again.  
“No talking. Just kissing.”


	10. Chapter 10

When Eddie woke the next morning a feeling of deep dread created a deep pit in his stomach. He dragged himself out of bed and into his bathroom, quickly getting a bath. When he walked back into his room he saw shining silver armor standing on a stand, waiting for him. Next to the armor was also a sword. The sword was silver with diamonds set into the hilt. The hilt looked extremely sharp and deadly. When Eddie picked it up, it was surprisingly light. 

Eddie was standing on the marble stairs outside. They were about to leave for the battle, and Bill was giving a speech. His army was standing beneath them large and intimidating. Eddie stood next to Beverly and Richie. Richie was standing closer to him and was brushing his fingers against Eddie’s hand. Bill walked out of the castle doors, holding his hands up for silence. His face was somber but he looked like an angel. He had discarded the white train for a shorter, fuller one. And his white pants had been tucked into silver, metal boots, similar to the ones Eddie wore. Bill opened his mouth and began to speak.   
“We all knew this day would come. It was inevitable. Today we will fight the Red Queen, formerly known as Henry Bowers. He doesn't deserve the title or fears he was instilled in all of us. He is a coward and a fraud. He hides behind his minions and his pet, but I promise you, that we are stronger than him. And we will win. Many of you will die. But your death will not be in vain. Our champion, Edward Kaspbrak, will kill the Jabberwock and free all of Wonderland from his terror. We will defeat the Red Queen. We will take down the Jabberwocky. We will liberate Wonderland!”  
Everyone began to clap and cheer.   
“He didn’t stutter once…”Richie said in amazement. Beverly walked up next to Bill and mounted a horse, Eddie supposed the stablekeeper had brought them out during Bill’s speech. And Began to lead the army out of the castle gates. Bill also mounted his horse, with Stan’s help. He trotted up to Eddie and smiled.   
“We believe in you,” he said, Eddie nodded, and he turned, riding away towards the front of the group.   
Eddie, Richie, and Mike all mounted horses as well, taking up the back. Mike said he would meet them there and Stan floated along next to them, which Eddie didn’t fully understand but after spending so long here he just learned to accept it.   
Eddie didn’t like the ride. No one was talking and so he was stuck in his head the whole time. He was nervous. Beyond nervous. He was terrified. He felt like he was being drowned in icy water. The scenery did nothing to change his mood. It was getting progressively more and more dreary. The sky became dark and more clouded. The trees became fewer and fewer and less alive. They were tall and dark and looked like they would come alive and snatch at them any minute now. The grass was becoming browner and browner until it was wilting and gray with only patches here and there.   
After just over an hour they stopped. Eddie looked around and saw the battlefield was a giant chessboard, covered in dirt and rusted armor and swords. There were ruins of some old castle standing atop a small hill just to the left. Just under a dying tree was a skeleton, dressed in rusting armor, it’s hand clutched around a broken sword. Eddie shivered at the sight, thinking that soon that could be him. Left here, all alone in this dying place. Clutching on a broken sword, desperately wanting to fight, to stay alive, but still being left and forgotten.   
Everyone dismounted their horse and went to stand next to Bill, who stood out against the dark landscape. Eddie could see the Red Queen and his army approaching. He could also see the clown. Eddie shivered, and wanting nothing more than to hide, but he pushed those thoughts away and stood up straighter, resting his hand on his sword hilt.  
He was very grateful for those sword lessons Bev gave him, back then he had protested but thinking about it now, he was happy he didn’t have just his hands and defensive magic to help him. The Red Queen, how Eddie now knew as Henry, climbed off his dark horse and walked to the middle of the chessboard. Bill walked towards him as well and stopped a few feet away.   
They were speaking but Eddie couldn’t hear what they were saying. He saw Henry look at him and smirk slightly.   
“Eddie, when this starts...promise you’ll come back,” Richie said in a hushed voice looking ahead. Eddie turned and saw Richie was crying. He turned back and nodded, “I will.”

Bill and Henry shook hands but before they could let go, Henry pulled Bill forward and plunged a knife into Bill’s side. His eyes alight with malice and joy.  
“BILL!” Stan shouted, running forward. Henry dropped him and turned back to his army. Eddie only caught a glimpse of Bill’s white suit, drenched with almost black red, before Beverly and her army charged forward.  
The battle had officially started.   
Within minutes, Eddie had lost sight of Richie. He didn’t fully understand what was happening. He cut and slashed at anything red and punched and sent flying any that tried hand to hand combat. He was yelling spells left and right, all the while looking for his friends. He thought he saw Mike on his right bashing a red knight in the head with a silver staff.   
Then Eddie saw him. Pennywise was making his way towards Eddie, making everything move out of his path. Eddie turned and ran. He broke out of the fight and knew Pennywise was right behind him. He charged up the hill and into the castle. The front was littered with dirt and leaves. Several glass chandeliers had fallen onto the stone floor. Eddie ran through the hall, running up a small staircase behind a cobweb-covered throne. As Eddie ran he could hear the jabberwocky behind him, laughing and running. Eddie’s chest was tight with fear but he pushed onwards. Finally, he made it to the top. He was on the balcony, There were no railings and he knew that if he fell, the fall would most certainly kill him.   
“Eddieeeeeee” Eddie turned around and saw Pennywise. He was grinning, his mouth hanging open and slobber pooled out of his mouth onto the floor.   
“I’m not scared of you.” Eddie steadied himself, raising his sword, ready to strike. Pennywise laughed harder than ever, he doubled over but instead of standing back up, he began to grow. He grew outrageously tall and had sprouted 6 more pairs of legs. Eddie’s mouth dropped open in horror, he was shaking but he forced himself to keep steady.   
“You can do this,” he whispered.   
“Scared yet, Eddie bear?”Pennywise laughed again. Eddie said nothing. He closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath.   
‘I have to survive. I have to get back to my friends, to Richie,’ Eddie opened his eyes and smirked.  
He ran at Pennywise and swiped with his sword at one of his legs.   
“Percutiens!” Eddie put as much magic as he could into that word. The leg Eddie had struck fell clean off, causing to clown to stagger.   
Pennywise screamed and swiped at Eddie, narrowly missing him. Eddie jumped behind a stone pillar, hiding from the clown’s long, searching fingers.   
He knew he couldn’t keep this up, cutting him to bits wouldn’t work, he’d have to say his name. Eddie concentrated, opening that pit and reaching deep into that pit, and pulling up so much magic he felt he might burst. He had never used this much magic before. It was wild, and it would destroy him if he didn’t control it. He pictured himself sitting on the floor wit Richie, kissing him until their lips were bruised. He concentrated on Richie’s hot breath and his soft hands. His beautiful brown eyes filled with love. He focused on his training sessions with Mike and Beverly. Hoe stuffy the room was once the had finished, how powerful he always felt. He pictured reading quietly in the library with Ben late at night. And he remembered Stan saving him the first time he came to wonderland.   
When he opened his eyes, he felt for the magic. It was still there, still unbelievably powerful, but tamed.   
“Pennywise.” Eddie stepped out from behind the pillar. Pennywise stopped and looked at him. Eddie had was pouring all the magic he had into that name, bending its owner to his will. But the Jabberwocky was strong and fought back. He withered in pain and screamed and thrashed.   
“Pennywise. Fall off.” The Jabberwocky's hand flung out to strike Eddie. But Eddie had already put up his sword and it was cut clean off. Pennywise screamed again and leaned down to look into Eddie’s face, still screaming.   
“I said fall.” Eddie hoped no one was standing under the balcony, otherwise, they would have been crushed by the clown’s giant body falling off. Eddie looked down at his hands and saw that they were coated in black, sticky tar that must have been the Jabberwocks blood. He looked at the monstrous head removed from its horrible body, shock evident on its face.   
Eddie slowly climbed down the stairs, his bones aching and his head spinning. It was all finally catching up to him. He swiped at his nose with the ack of his hand, and when he pulled it away saw that it was coated in his blood. He must have gotten hit in the fight. He couldn’t remember all of it, he just knew that he was slow and heavy.   
He walked to the castle doors and looked down at the battlefield. He saw the entirety of the red army was defeated. The white side had some losses too, but he hoped his friends where okay.   
Eddie sank to his knees and smiled. He looked up at the sky and began to cry. They did it. He did it. Eddie felt lay down, his mind slipping in and out of consciousness until finally there was nothing but black. 

Eddie woke up hours later, he tried to sit up but found that he hurt too much. He gasped and leaned back.   
“You’re awake!” the doors to his room burst open and Richie came running in.   
Eddie laughed and sucked in a breath, as Richie hugged him.   
“Oh shit sorry,” he laughed.   
“What happened?” Eddie asked.   
“Well, we won, and you, ya little badass, killed the fucking clown. And Wonderland is now free, thanks to you,” Richie smiled.   
“What about Bill? Is he alright?”  
“Bill? Pssh yeah, that bastard can take just about anything and live. Thank god Bowers missed an important artery though. And speaking of, that bastard is dead, thanks to yours truly,” Richie grinned smugly.   
Eddie laughed and grabbed Richie’s hand, “Lay with me?”   
Richie nodded, kicking off his boots, and throwing his coat and hat off, snuggling close to Eddie.   
“I love you, Eddie.”  
“I love you to Richie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! I'm done! Well, this is been so much fucking fun to write so thank you to anyone and everyone who read it and I hoped the enjoyed reading it!


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